Story: On the run from the evil Cylons, the human’s ragtag fleet of ships, led by the mighty Battlestar Galactica, find themselves boxed in by attack vessels that continually whittle away at their camoflage. All the while, the Cylons are nudging the fleet towards the hidden Cylon garrison on Tairac, where they hope to destroy the entire fleet in one swift stroke. But Commander Adama finds help from two unlikely sources: the ranks of Galactica’s prisons and a colony of humanoid clones enslaved to the Cylons on Tairac. But on the icy planet, Captain Apollo, Lt. Starbuck and the other members of the Galactica crew don’t know if they can trust any of their new allies or if there is a way to stop the Cylons before Galactica’s slow march to destruction reaches its end.

Review: Before I talk about the book, I need to clear up my position on the whole Galactica franchise. I have very fond memories of the original series, though I haven’t seen an episode in over a decade. (I will soon remedy this thanks to my recent purchase of the complete series DVD box set.) I also have a strong loathing for the “re-imagined” new series, which I feel strays as far away from the positive message of the original series as it possibly could.

Now, “The Cylon Death Machine” goes a long way towards illustrating why I think the original series is superior to the current one. It comes down to the nature of the humans and the Cylons. In the current series, the humans and Cylons are indistiguishable, and not just because they look alike. Cylons are simply different people. I suppose this is intended on the part of the series creators, but it makes the whole conflict dull and uninteresting to me. You see, I already have a gripping drama between opposing human factions that I can pay attention to, the real world. I don’t need or desire to have it re-created, in space, with some Hollywood-type’s personal take splattered all over it. In the original series, the Cylons were true aliens, with an entirely different view of life. This comes off very well in the book. (more…)

Story: In the first major published retrospective work on the BBC’s science fiction series Doctor Who, writer and editor Peter Haining assembles a history of the show and a variety of essays from its stars and makers, past and (as of the 20th anniversary of the show’s 1963 premiere) present. Fan archivist Jeremy Bentham turns in a large portion of the book almost uncredited, giving a critical and historical rundown of every adventure to date.

Review: The first of Peter Haining’s many books about Doctor Who, “A Celebration” has the benefit, even in hindsight, of being the first such tome, and to someone who had, in 1983, just a working knowledge of the show, this book was a revelation, unearthing a vast wealth of knowledge and photographic material to my young eyes. I grumble about how Haining made a career out of these books, reorganizing the same information over and over again until the later books became a case study of diminishing returns, but “A Celebration” is a fine piece of work on its own. (more…)